1st July 2015

Retrofit – The future of London’s Commercial Buildings

Director Festus Moffat offered insight into the advantages of retrofit in the London market at the NLA conference ‘Retrofit – The Future of London’s Commercial Buildings’.

Drawing on the example of One Southampton Street, a JRA scheme for Aviva Investors located in Covent Garden, Festus was able to highlight the ways in which it is possible to improve the quality and environmental performance of existing office stock in locations where it would be time consuming, costly and impractical to build new developments.

The example of One Southampton Street is apt, it achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’, gaining the highest ever post-construction environmental score at the time of completion and through updated building services, entrance halls and office floors, both looks and functions to compete with new build whilst maintaining a 1930s facade.

Festus spoke alongside other industry experts including Michael P Davies of JLL’s London Unlimited, Julie Hirigoyen CEO of the UK Green Building Council and Richard Morgan, senior engineer at Arup. Over the course of the morning, each were able to shed light on the future trends, occupier demands and practical advantages of Retrofit at a time where London is struggling to meet the ever-growing demand for commercial space.

The morning finished with a panel discussion, encouraging all speakers to answer audience questions and reflect on the future of commercial retrofit and in turn, the future of London.